Radiation Safety Awareness Among Nursing Students in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA): A Survey Study

Abstract

Excessive exposure to unnecessary radiation may cause long-term effects to human being. Thus, nursing students should be knowledgeable about radiation protection and safety before starting their clinical placement at the hospital to minimize the risk of radiation. This research aims to identify the awareness level among nursing students in UniSZA toward radiation safety. An online questionnaire was distributed to all nursing students in UniSZA. The questionnaire survey consisted of a section for socio-demographic information and two sections for 5-point Likert scale questions, which were radiation knowledge and radiation protection practice. A total of 108 nursing students consented and participated in the study.  Descriptive statistics were used for elaborating respondent’s demographic characteristics. Independent t-test was used to use to evaluate the influence of clinical training duration towards radiation safety awareness.  All analyses were performed using SPSS 21.0. The results showed that nursing students have a high level of radiation knowledge with a mean score 3.67±0.68 and a high level of radiation protection practice with mean score 3.98±0.73.  Furthermore, the findings indicated that the mean score of knowledge and practice among respondents with a clinical training duration of more than 8 weeks were 47.29±8.09 and 33.23±5.56, respectively. It was a higher mean score of the knowledge and practice towards radiation safety in respondents with a longer clinical training duration as compared with respondents with shorter clinical training duration with p<0.005. The awareness of radiation safety among nursing students is crucial for assuring the health and safety of both patients and healthcare professionals. Through education and training, nursing students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively handle and minimise the risks associated with radiation exposure in healthcare settings.